How do you pronounce species? Is it “spee-SEES” or “spee-SHEES”? Both are considered standard, but the spee-SHEES pronunciation is far more common. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How to Pronounce...
One of the most powerful and most poignant words you’ll ever hear isn’t in dictionaries yet, although it probably will be eventually. An endling is the last surviving member of a species. The story of its origin is a marvelous one...
A Minnesotan who relocated to Wisconsin gets called a mud duck, and wants to know why. Much in the way Wisconsinites get referred to as cheese heads, it’s really a harmless bit of nomenclature from a cross-state rivalry. In hunting, the term...
Are we a nosy species? A listener married to a woman from Bangladesh explains how a Bengali term that translates as “nose-going” reflects the naturally inquisitive style of Bangladeshi culture. In many languages, the nose figures...
Sometimes the process of naming a pet takes a while. The hosts talk about how their dogs’ names evolved. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pet Name Evolution” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...
tar-tar n.— Note: “Toi toi” is a type of grass native to New Zealand, as described here, although there is at least one species of bird native to the country, the North Island tomtit, that is of the subspecies “toitoi...